HIDDEN IN THE WOODS – SO GRAPHIC AND THE MATERIAL SO ROUGH THAT IT CAN’T BE RELEASED ON iTUNES

Coming September 17th from Artsploitation is an unexpected Chilean film “Hidden in the Woods”. This low budget exploitation film is being marketed as a horror film which is rare for the Chilean market, they are known more for comedy and drama. While being billed as Horror due to the graphic violence and rough material this is really an extreme thriller.

Director Patricio Valladares brings to the screen a film that is surprisingly based on true events. The fact that this is based on anything remotely real is truly horrific. For twenty years two girls live in the remote Chilean wilderness with their father (Daniel Antivilo) who houses drugs for the local drug lord Uncle Costello (Francois Soto). When he is not busy drinking, he passes time raping his children. Raping his children is just of of the negative effects of drug use, He also makes time to feed raw meat to the deformed offspring locked in a shed that he sired raping his eldest. When police investigate for child abuse Ana (Siboeny Lo), Anny (Carlina Escobar) and the son Manuel (Jose Hernandez) realize that this is their lone chance to escape. With the father out of the picture Uncle Costello sends his people to track the, down and recover the drugs.

What I admire about Hidden in the Woods is not just that Valladares is willing to tackle some pretty challenging material but that he did it in a country that looks down upon the genre and he did it on the cheap. The movie was shot on a Canon dslr. This isn’t the type of film that provides any scares as I mentioned this is a graphic thriller. When i say graphic I mean it, if murder, incestual rape, cannibalism and extreme violence aren’t your thing this might be one you want to sit out. The biggest issue people are going to have besides the material is the fact that every guy in the film is an amoral monster.

Apparently in the Chilean backwoods rape is not frowned upon, rather its encouraged. These two girls are constantly objectified and abused. When Ana turns to prostitution to feed her sister and son we are greeted with a humorous blow job montage that is the epitome of exploitation. These truly are feral children outcast from society who will do what it takes to survive.

This isn’t for everyone in fact it’s probably not for most, Hidden in the woods goes down razorblade rough, It’s the cinematic equivalent of really cheap liquor, It’s grimy and dirty proving you don’t have to be fancy to get the job done. It never plays it safe and pushes the boundaries.

The DVD deliver a half hour featurette that shows a few scenes being filmed, it’s a great behind the scenes look for those interested In indie film making. The cover art is also solid. Currently a US version is in the works being filmed in Chile however it’s going to be toned down a bit. So if you like cannibalism in your backwoods bloodbaths this is version you want to see.Hidden in the Woods will be day and date on DVD and VOD September 17th at Amazon Instant and VHX